Margot at The Wedding is writer director Noah Baumbach’s follow up to his highly successful film The Squid And the Whale. Once again he is dealing with families and the complexities that exist within them.
With her pre-adolescent son in tow, Margot, a successful writer, decides to attend her estranged sister’s wedding. On arrival she takes an immediate dislike to Malcolm, Pauline’s hopeless and unemployed fiancé. With her unnerving and brutal honesty, Margot stirs up trouble and plants the seed of doubt in her sister’s mind about the union.
Nicole Kidman plays Margot with unbridled fearlessness. She is so, so good as the intense, self loathing Margot who is losing touch with her son, her marriage and her life. It is the best performance I have seen from Nicole since To Die For.
Noah Baumbach has elicited a sensitive and finely nuanced performance from his wife Jennifer Jason Leigh. She is not nearly as mannered has we have seen her in the past, perhaps trusting her husband’s material.
Jack Black in a rare dramatic role is ok as the pathetic Malcolm, but I thought he lacked the depth that the women brought to their roles. I still felt I was watching Jack Black.
Baumbach is a really interesting filmmaker. His films are raw and so cleverly observed. He shoots in a simple way allowing the character driven script to take centre stage.
By encouraging his audience to identify with the characters and their situations, he is able to extract a terrific amount of pathos and humour.
If you like your humour bleak and your films intense and real, this won’t disappoint – 4 stars.
